Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-03-24

God and reading, not a chapter, nor verse
or two every day, but To make 1t the line OF
your counseli When any great combination,
scheme, is being formed In New York-any
syndlcate--there is always the lawyer, and
they will never take single step until they
consult him, and he is about all the while; he
is the man of the counsel; it is complicated
thing, and great deal depends upon II, and
they cannot afford to go wrong. Are YOU
willing to take the New Testament as the line
OF your counsell See what 1t says about
lusts, about appetltes, what 1t says about crime
and envy and jealousy and all III will and
evil speaking and all sefshness in its grasping
moods. Are you willing to look through the
New Testament to see what the law Of the
Lord Isl Not by discussion. God will take
care of his own defense and doesn't thank
you for any help; nor has he any occasion to
thank anybody. Arc you willing to take the
Bible just as the shipmaster takes the charta
When he leaves the last shore light and takes
me me direction or two '' of Tie sailing
directions, and then read me the draughtings
inside again and then again. They have no
relation AZ all to bis course, to his actual sail
ing; but he is not going TO read so many parts
of his chart and of his sailing directions.
ginning and every day he takes observations,
and then he checks down on the chart just
where he Is. At noon tomorrow he takes an
other observation; not because there Is any
need Of reading his chart, in reading any book
on navigation; not because he is studying as
tronomy for the sake Of anything that Is In
astronomy. He has got definite purpose In
life; after which he sells his astronomy, and
after which he sells his books, or those which
lay his course. Are you willing to begin
Christian course and voyage by going to the
word OF God TO ascertain exactly what is ex-
peXcted of you, both what you are to reject
and what you are TO adoptf That Is sensible,
that is right resolving, according to a practi.
cal basis and resolution. Or, on the other
hand, are You, while you are weighing, that
is, In yourself, are you saying to yourself:
MY other people of God got on the best way.
There is my father and mother. IL there
were ever any Christians they were such.
believe they were real Christians. Now a
mans mother is infinitely more to him than
the Virgin Mary Is to any devout Catholic.
"You come into the church because you find
sympathy there and kindly help there. Are
you willing 10 take advantage OF all these
kindly helps, so that you may be able to keep
your purpose and your will! Are yon willing
TO begin il now! You don't need any more
knowledge. You have been brought up in
Christian knowledge from the very cradle; you
have no bad associations; you haze necessari-
ly none by the average, but what Christian
life was and Christian duty, IL therefore is
not man here that needs to have additional
instruction; he knows that he is bound to live
obediently to God and in love with Jesus
Christ But can man come into state OF
emOtioni Can man by simply saying will,
feeli No; no; but by saying | will feel he
can take the steps to feel. A man shivers and
saws, Chills and fever are not agreeable; am
determined to get over Them Well, you can
not get over them by determining 1t, but il you
will take Quinine enough you can. Now, let
your purpose be not simply this, Il am resolved
to be a Christian but i am resolved SO un
ostentatiouslv. / am going to feel mayself for
all the help can and all the Christian insti-
buttons that are necessary for my veal Now,
that is practical, and that is common sense as
well as moral sense. Or are you going to say,
well, will see about it, No, you won't;
YOU know it. And that thing we have in our
times, when 10th debtor he has given note
for the sake Of paying a debt-but for the sake
of getting rid of paying 1t they put it oil Tor
four months aud then they give another note.
II Is the greenback business In which thev pay
one note by giving another. There are multi
tudes Of people that form resolution for the
sake of not fulfilling duty, and man says
"Well, | have made UP my mind l am going
to be a Christian as soon as / get ready
When are you going to get readyt 1t has
clouded your conscience and cloudcd your
reason now by promising to do that, by and
by. when the convenient time comes; and the
devil will see to it that it never comes. 1t Is
a resolution that simply means the feeling OF
having done your duty. And think the
most scandalOus meannesses and dishonor-
abeness that can very well be imagined, when
the parties concerned are regarded, Is that
resolution that people form to be Christian,
when they have wasted themselves in the ser
vice Of selishness and when they have come
into old age and lie on their dcath-bed. |
should think myself very mean If, in the sum
mer time, | should gather peck of peas and
shell out the peas, and send the pods over to
my neighbor as a present That is what men
mean to do with God; they mean to live in
youth after their passions; they mean to live
in middle age after their ambition; they mean
col NrlI aTf and hntt
die they mean to whip on the right side and
get into heaven. When you come to examine
such conduct in relations to men, there is not
a savage that would not feel that was infam-
Ous-to repay protection, divine benedic-
ton, the ministration of God through
all the channels of nature and the
kindness of God through Jesus Christ for the
ministration of the gospel; aud the man
deliberately says, we will seek all the money
out of these things and all the rest
that is in life, and when We are no
longer use to ourselves we are going-we VIII
repent so as to get into heaven. Two Dutch
elders had been warm friends and yet one day
they fell out with each other and the fire grew
tiercer until they came positively to hate each
other, and one Sunday morning the dominic
going behind one of the elders heard him NUT
ter TO himself, ivan Alstyne is a hypocrit;
he will go to hell he will go to helln The
old dominic spoke up to him and said: "Oh,
oh, my brother he won't go to hell" "Yes,
he viii 30 to hell" "Well, but my dear fell
low, he may repent" ''No-well, he is just
mean enough to do it." But this--it is, can,
didly-the condition in which some of YOU are.
You mean to live hatefully, dtsobediently, dis
honorably, and yet in the last estate you
mean to whip up and get into heayen-you
are lust mean enough to do it."
''Now, on the other hand, pleased be God,
he is long suffering, and he is patient and as
we would pay a debt, by installments, little by
little, showing all the time that we endeayor
to do it, he respects your endeavor TO live, to
repent and to live Christian life, by install
ments.n
If you make up your mind honestly to do
it, he will bear with your incompetence and
your ignorance and your endearments; he
will bear patiently with YOU, and help you
from day TO day, and from month to month,
and from year to year, growing brighter and
and brighter unto The perfect day Is there
any man here that can say In regard to the
past am resolved that ] will cut loose from
everything that has been detriment to me,
dishonorable to God. Is there any man that
will say in regard to the future i am resolved
what TO dot ! am resolved to take higher
| life, the nobler ideal; am determined, by the
| help of God, that win live in such a way
| that | should live And If there is, don't wait
| until tomorrow morning; read just your life
tonight; go home and tell God Of it; go home TS
is the very thing you don't dare
TO do because when man has once
committed himself he is ashamed to 20 back;
and If you are ashamed to tell anybody i have
made UP my mind to live like Christian
| man. IL is because you have not made up your
mind. When a man has determined that he
will live Christian life he will be willing
| TO show to all that are around about him, j
| am going to try. / have made up nv mind tC
try If you have mind YOU will enter upon
| Your journey. The time is past in which
| have served the will of the flesh, and now, to
night, | have determined that will begin